Editorial: Green, green grass of … associations

Monday, April 19, 2004 | 8:48 a.m.

It's taken more than two centuries, but a saying by the English writer Samuel Johnson has finally been proven wrong. "A blade of grass is always a blade of grass, whether in one country or another," he said in the 1700s. Today a blade of grass is not always a blade of grass, whether in one neighborhood or another. That's because now there is "real" grass, which consumes water by the barrel and still browns out in our hot summers, and a new generation of lifelike "synthetic" grass, which never browns out and never needs water. In many neighborhoods around Las Vegas, residents are responding to our water-shortage crisis and installing this high-tech grass.

In our view, homeowners who go to the expense of installing synthetic grass should be applauded. We're in the fifth year of a drought and our water supply is under severe threat. The level of Lake Mead, our primary source of water, is down by 70 feet. Lake Powell, which is the source of water for Lake Mead, is half empty. The Colorado River, the source of water for both Lake Powell and Lake Mead, is the most endangered river in the country, according to the respected environmental group, American Rivers. At a time when questions are being posed about how much water we have left for drinking and bathing, anything we can do to cut down on landscape irrigation should be embraced -- even mandated.

Yet our area homeowners associations are apparently filled with people whose view of grass hasn't progressed past Samuel Johnson's day. Homeowners who swap out their natural, water-wasting front-yard grass for the synthetic variety are being set upon by association officials who place a greater value on their rule books than on our most precious resource. An example is the experience of a Summerlin resident who has been ordered by the Summerlin North Community Association to remove his synthetic turf because it is an "unapproved condition." The association is wringing its hands, wondering what could be next -- plastic plants, plastic trees? It's worrying that some homeowner might install the synthetic grass himself, rather than having it professionally done. It's worrying that a lower quality synthetic turf might find its way into the neighborhood. This is the same association that goes around citing homeowners with natural grass for brown spots in the hot months.

When homeowners associations were citing people for installing flagpoles on their property, the Legislature pulled rank and overrode the rules. If homeowners associations don't come to their senses on synthetic grass, the Legislature should intervene again.